By “Excuse my voice, I just finished winning a national championship,” said a hoarse redshirt junior opposite and team captain, Skyler Varga, to a round of laughs and applause from the Long Beach State community.
A year and one week removed from losing the national title game on their home floor to the University of California, Los Angeles Bruins, No. 1 Long Beach State men’s volleyball (30-3) made its triumphant return to The Walter Pyramid on Tuesday, May 13, as national champions.
The Beach bested the Bruins in a 3-0 sweep on Monday, May 12, to claim their fourth national title in the university’s history.
A day later, the team that will now go down in program history forever, was met with cascading cheers and congratulations from the LBSU fans in a celebratory pep rally.
“We have, by far, the best fans. There’s a couple other institutions that like to claim that; it’s not even close,” LBSU head coach Alan Knipe said. “You guys are amazing, and you can feel the energy in all our matches when we played here.”
Redshirt junior opposite and now-NCAA champion Skyler Varga walks through the sea of Long Beach State faithful as they await high-fives. Photo credit: Madison Yang
Knipe, Varga and freshmen setter and AVCA National Player of the Year Moni Nikolov spoke at the podium to fans at the pep rally and expressed deep appreciation for their support for the program on their journey to the title.
Knipe cited seeing a video of LBSU fans erupt in joy after the match point at a watch party at Legends Sports Bar as a moment that “brought tears to [his] eyes.”
“[The fans] truly pushed us to be better,” Nikolov said. “As much as we wanted to win this for us, we also wanted to win this for you guys.”
The Beach had the highest home game attendance in school history this season.
Nikolov, who broke an NCAA single-season record with an astounding 106 aces, was named NCAA All-Tournament MVP after racking up 27 assists, six kills, four aces, two digs and two blocks against UCLA.
Knipe reiterated his post-game comments from Monday during Tuesday’s rally, emphasizing the remarkable season delivered by the athlete known as “The Bulgarian Prince.”
LBSU freshman setter Moni Nikolov walks through the tunnel of LBSU fans, as he and the newly crowned champions made their return to LBSU on Tuesday, May 13. Photo credit: Madison Yang
“It’s the most impactful season anyone’s ever had in our sport for one year,” Knipe said.
Following the speeches, the team flooded out to the sea of LBSU faithful to greet fans, take pictures and sign autographs.
“To be able to fist pump Moni and take a picture with him is amazing—that man’s a once-in-a-generation type player,” senior journalism major Enrique Rodriguez said.
After meeting and celebrating with LBSU fans in front of the Pyramid, the team continued the party on Wednesday, May 14, with a “Trophy Tour Victory Drive” in Downtown Long Beach.
“There’s a lot of school pride that they’re bringing the trophy home,” junior political science major Eduarda Duraes said. “It’s really awesome to have such amazing players right here at my school, and to be able to give that school spirit.”
